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Mrs Thatcher told reporters the country had become a much improved place in which to live since she took office in 1979. "We're leaving Downing Street for the last time after eleven-and-a-half wonderful years and we're happy to leave the UK in a very much better state than when we came here," she said. She also gave her support to her successor. "Now it's time for a new chapter to open and I wish John Major all the luck in the world," she said. Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, who have made a collective worldwide reputation with their "Three Tenors" open-air concerts, announced plans Tuesday for a performance to be held in the French capital during the World Cup this summer. The arrangement allows them to combine two of their greatest passions: music and soccer. "I am a nut -- a tenor nut!" Pavarotti told the gathering of journalists. "So what better than singing with the other two tenors. For me there is nothing better than that!" They were surrounded by soccer balls and shirts as they announced the July 10 concert, to be held in the grounds behind the Eiffel Tower. The Paris Orchestra will accompany the tenors, with James Levine conducting. Robert Maxwell was a British publishing baron of the 1980s and for a short time one of the world's most prominent media moguls. Born to poor Jewish parents in the Czech Republic, Maxwell fought in the British Army in World War II and then settled in Britain, changing his name and becoming head of Permagon Publishing. In the 1970s Maxwell began building a media empire by borrowing and spending lavishly, acquiring among other properties the Daily Mirror, the book publisher MacMillan, and (in 1991) the New York Daily News. His rivalry with Australian mogul Rupert Murdoch was much publicized. In 1991, facing financial difficulties, Maxwell drowned while yachting off the Canary Islands. (The exact circumstances of his demise were unclear; a Spanish judge ruled out foul play, but did not determine how the death occurred.) After his death investigators discovered that Maxwell had propped up his empire by diverting hundreds of millions of pounds from pension funds and other sources. It was a major financial fiasco, and Maxwell's empire was dissolved and sold off in the following years. Maxwell is unrelated to the 1950's harp player Robert Maxwell, the photographer Robert Maxwell, or the country guitarist Robert Maxwell Case... Maxwell was a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party from 1964-70. The Los Angeles Riots of 1992, also known as the Rodney King uprising or the Rodney King riots, were sparked on April 29, 1992 when a jury acquitted four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict. Widespread looting, assault, arson and murder occurred, and property damages totaled US$1 billion. Many of the crimes were racially motivated or perpetrated. In all, 53 people died during the riots. In addition to the immediate trigger of the verdict, many other factors were cited as reasons for the unrest, including extremely high unemployment among residents of South Central Los Angeles, which had been hit very hard by the nation-wide recession; a long-standing perception that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) engaged in racial profiling and used excessive force, subsequently supported by the Christopher Commission, an investigation led by Warren Christopher (who would become Secretary of State the following year under President Bill Clinton); and specific anger over the sentence given to a Korean American shop-owner for the murder of Latasha Harlins, an African American girl. On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was tackled, tasered, and heavily beaten with clubs, by four L.A.P.D. officers. The incident, without the first few minutes where police claim King was violently resisting arrest, was captured on video by a personal camera, the Argentine George Holliday, from his apartment in the vicinity. The footage of King being beaten by police officers while lying on the ground became an international media sensation and a rallying point for activists in Los Angeles and around the United States. Mae C. Jemison blasted into orbit aboard the space shuttle Endeavor, September 12, 1992, the first woman of color to go into space. This historic event was only another in a series of accomplishments for this dynamic African-American women. Dr. Jemison was Science Mission Specialist (a NASA first) on the STS-47 Space lab J flight, a US/Japan joint mission. She conducted experiments in life sciences, material sciences, and was co-investigator in the Bone Cell Research experiment. Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993. Chemical engineer, scientist, physician, teacher and astronaut, she has a wide range of experience in technology, engineering, and medical research. In addition to her extensive background in science, she is well-versed in African and African-American Studies and is trained in dance and choreography. The Waco Siege (also known as the Waco Massacre ) took place on February 28, 1993 when the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located nine miles (14 km) east-northeast of Waco, Texas. An exchange of gunfire resulted in the deaths of four agents and six Davidians. A subsequent 51-day siege by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ended on April 19 when fire destroyed the compound. Seventy-six people (24 of them British nationals) died in the fire, including 21 children and two pregnant women, along with Davidian leader Vernon Wayne Howell, better known as David Koresh. After the ceasefire, the Davidians, who still had ample ammunition, allowed the dead and wounded to be removed and held their fire during the ATF retreat. ATF agents Steve Willis, Robert Williams, Todd McKeehan and Conway LeBleu were killed during the raid. Another 16 were wounded. Surviving Davidians claim that some ATF deaths and casualties were caused by 'friendly fire'. The Davidians killed were Winston Blake, Peter Gent, Peter Hipsman, Perry Jones and Jaydean Wendel. Michael Schroeder was shot dead by ATF agents who alleged he fired a pistol at agents as he attempted to reenter the compound around 5 p.m. with Woodrow Kendrick and Norman Allison. His wife claims that he was merely returning from work and had not participated in the day's earlier altercation." The local sheriff, in audiotapes broadcast after the incident, said he was not apprised of the raid. Alan A. Stone's report states that the Davidians didn't ambush the ATF, that they "apparently did not maximize the kill of ATF agents" and that they were "willing to kill but not cold-blooded killers". It explains that they were rather "desperate religious fanatics expecting an apocalyptic ending, in which they were destined to die defending their sacred ground and destined to achieve salvation." 1997: IRA declares ceasefire The IRA has announced its second ceasefire in three years starting at noon tomorrow. It follows a statement by republican political party Sinn Fein last night urging the IRA to call a truce, but the speed of response has surprised politicians. Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam MP will monitor IRA activity over the next six weeks to decide whether Sinn Fein will be admitted to the all-party peace talks scheduled for 15 September. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said he supported a ceasefire because of a "commitment by the two governments (UK and Republic of Ireland) to inclusive peace talks". British Prime Minister Tony Blair had underlined this resolve by making his first big speech as head of the new government from Belfast on 16 May. In June he set out the conditions for Sinn Fein's inclusion in the all-party talks in a speech to the Commons. He offered a clear timetable for talks - to be completed by May 1998 - within six weeks of a ceasefire. President and Queen open Chunnel The Queen and France's President Francois Mitterrand have formally opened the Channel Tunnel during two elaborate ceremonies in France and Britain. After travelling through the tunnel, which took eight years and billions of pounds to build, the Queen said it was one of the world's great technological achievements. The tunnel is the first land link between Britain and Europe since the last Ice Age about 8,000 years ago. The first leg of the Queen's journey took her from London's Waterloo station through the tunnel by high-speed Eurostar passenger train. She arrived at Calais at the same time as the President Mitterrand's train which had travelled from Paris' Gard du Nord via Lille. The two locomotives met nose to nose - a computer that prevents two trains travelling on the same track was switched off for the occasion. The two heads of state cut red, white and blue ribbons simultaneously to the sound of their respective national anthems played by the band of the French Republican Guard. They were accompanied by their Prime Ministers John Major and Edouard Balladur and other government ministers to the Eurotunnel terminus. Eurostar will not start carrying passengers until July at the earliest and private cars will have to wait until October. After lunch, the Queen and President Mitterrand took the royal Rolls-Royce on Le Shuttle for the 35-minute trip to Folkestone. There was a similar ribbon-cutting ceremony on English soil. Among those present were joint Eurotunnel chairmen Sir Alastair Morton and André Bénard as well as Frenchman Philippe Cozette, who drilled the hole that first joined the two ends of the tunnel in December 1990. Behind today's celebrations lies the reality that the tunnel has run up huge debts. It cost £10bn to build, more than double the original forecast in 1987 - and there are serious doubts about its long-term financial viability. On March 13, 1996, Thomas Hamilton, 43, left his home at 7 Kent Road in Dunblane, Scotland, with only one thing in mind -- murder. At about 9:30 a.m., he drove to the Dunblane Primary School with a pair of pliers, four handguns and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. Once there, he cut the telephone wires on a nearby pole and then proceeded with weapons in hand to a side entrance of the school. Hamilton burst into the assembly hall, where a class of 5- and 6-year-old children was having gym lessons and opened fire. He first shot at several of the teachers. Hamilton then turned his guns on the frightened children and shot at them as they tried to scramble to safety under chairs and inside closets. Screams echoed through the gymnasium as tiny bodies sunk to the floor in pools of blood. Hamilton momentarily stepped outside the gym into a hallway where there were other classrooms and open fired again. Several more people were struck down before Hamilton returned to the gym and began shooting again. He then put the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. He died instantaneously, leaving behind a ghastly trail of death and devastation. The brutal rampage left 17 people murdered, including one teacher and 16 children. Another 17 would survive the horrifying incident but be haunted with nightmares for the rest of their lives. The sleepy, rural town was forever changed by the horrors of that day. It was considered one of the deadliest massacres in recent history. Families of the victims and community residents were shocked by the senseless slaughter that claimed so many innocent lives and scarred the survivors, physically and emotionally. According to John Smith's March 1996 article for The People, of the thousands of cards sent to the school to commemorate those who had died, one best described what was on most people's minds, "Why them! Why Them!" Unfortunately, the only one who could answer the question was dead. George Harrison was known as the quiet Beatle, and he was also the quietest ex-Beatle. His was not the way of the rock star, as he neither courted nor relished fame. Yet his seeming diffidence was deceptive, as he left behind an impressive legacy as a solo artist. Harrison’s 11 solo albums (not counting best-of’s) include the masterful All Things Must Pass (1970) and a memorable late-career milestone, Cloud Nine (1987). He was the first Beatle to tour as a solo artist and the only one to start his own label (Dark Horse Records). Most important, Harrison wrote and sang about spirituality and transcendence. He immersed himself in Indian music at Beatlemania’s height and became a lifelong devotee of Hindu religion, Krishna consciousness and Vedic philosophy. George Harrison died of brain cancer on November 29, 2001, at a friend’s home in Los Angeles. He was 58 years old. Exactly a year later, Eric Clapton and Olivia Harrison organized The Concert for George - a tribute performance that involved the remaining ex-Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as concert supervisor Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Ravi Shankar. Proceeds went to Harrison’s Material World Charitable Foundation, which he’d founded back in 1973. The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and a teacher, as well as wounding 23 others, before committing suicide. It is the fourth-deadliest school shooting in United States history, after the 1927 Bath School disaster, 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 1966 University of Texas massacre, and the deadliest for an American high school. The massacre provoked debate regarding gun control laws, the availability of firearms in the United States, and gun violence involving youths. Much discussion also centered on the nature of high school cliques, subcultures and bullying, as well as the role of violent movies and video games in American society. The shooting also resulted in an increased emphasis on school security, and a moral panic aimed at goth culture, social outcasts, the gun culture, the use of pharmaceutical anti-depressants by teenagers, violent films and music, teenage internet use, and violent video games. The controversial war in Iraq started with the US-led invasion in March 2003. The main reason offered for the proposed war was that Iraq has nuclear capabilities and that the war would act as a means of disabling such capabilities – thus the war would protect the interests of the US and further afield by disarming them. Countries that were opposed to the war, such as members of the UN security council who did not back plans, suggested that such fears were not correct. Another reason given for the invasion of Iraq was that there was claims linking Iraq to al-Qaeda – so far there has been no evidence linking them together in anyway. President of Iraq since 1979 (Vice President from 1968-79), Saddam Hussein [Husayn] was a dictator who stopped at nothing to preserve personal power and regime survival. After the 1968 Ba'athist Coup, he began his career as Chief of Iraq's security services, and he executed opponents and suspected potential rivals, including scores of high-level government officials and thousands of political prisoners. Since the 1970s, he escalated and made routine the systematic torture and execution of political prisoners. Saddam Hussein ordered the use of chemical weapons against Iranian forces in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and against Iraq's Kurdish population in 1988. The 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war left 150,000 to 340,000 Iraqis and 450,000 to 730,000 Iranians dead. Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and destruction of Kuwait in 1990-91 with 1,000 Kuwaitis killed. Directed the 1991 bloody suppression of Kurdish and Shi'a insurgencies in northern and southern Iraq with at least 30,000 to 60,000 killed. he later ordered the destruction of southern marshes to extinguish the Shi'a insurgency. Saddam was born in 1937, and reared in a mud hut near Tikrit, north of Baghdad. From the age of ten, Saddam was reared by an uncle, who encouraged him to dream of becoming a nationalist Arab hero, like Saladin. The chief influences during Hussein's childhood and teenage years were his mother and his uncle Khairullah Tulfah. Tulfah, an Iraqi army officer who introduced Hussein to the evils of colonialism in Iraq, was imprisoned by the British for his activism against the English-backed monarchy of King Feisal I. The Baath (renaissance) Party, which Muslim Salah Bitar and Christian Michel Aflaq originally established, became a vehicle for Hussein. He became an enforcer for the party, and like Joseph Stalin, who fascinated Hussein, he left the intellectuals behind and climbed the ladder of Iraq politics, using a combination of intimidation, fear, nepotism, and outright murder. In 1958, Feisal's monarchy came to a bloody end, and General Adel Karim Kasim took power. A year later, Hussein participated in a failed attempt on Kasim's life. Hussein was exiled to Egypt, where he became enamored of President Gamal abd-al-Nasser, who espoused Arab nationalism. Hussein was also instrumental in organizing Baath cells at the University of Cairo. In 1963, General Abdel-Rahman Arif overthrew Kasim, and the Baaths were in power. By 1968 close family and tribal ties bound the Baath's ruling clique. Most notable in this regard was the emergence of Tikritis -- Sunni Arabs from the northwest town of Tikrit -- related to Ahmad Hasan al Bakr. Three of the five members of the Baath's Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) were Tikritis; two, Bakr and Hammad Shihab, were related to each other. The cabinet posts of president, prime minister, and defense minister went to Tikritis. Saddam Hussein [Husayn], a key leader behind the scenes, also was a Tikriti and a relative of Bakr. Less than two months after the formation of the Bakr government in 1968, a coalition of pro-Nasser elements, Arif supporters, and conservatives from the military attempted another coup. This event provided the rationale for numerous purges directed by Bakr and Saddam Husayn. Saddam has been married to the same woman, former schoolteacher Sajida, since 1958. She has been described as a first cousin, not unusual for Mideast marriages of that era. They have five children, three daughters and two sons. Saddam Hussein was captured by forces from the 4th Infantry Division, coalition forces and special operations forces at approximately 8 p.m. local time on December 13, 2003, in a remote farm house near Tikrit, Iraq. The invasion of Iraq was lead by a largely American force, with soldiers from Australia, Great Britain, Poland and Denmark also playing their role. In an attempt to restore peace in Iraq, the Co-coalition countries attempted to establish a democratic government. Such plans have not went as smoothly as was hoped, and on-going violence has continued despite there being troops and a democratically elected government in place. Since the invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein fled the country in an attempt to avoid the consequences that would come as a result of being caught by the coalition troops. Despite his best attempts, Saddam was captured in December 2003 and was hanged in the same month the crimes he had committed whilst in office. His trial and subsequent hanging were all completed under the Iraq interim government. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (IPA: [xolíɬaɬa mandéːla]; born 18 July 1918) was the first President of South Africa to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, serving in the office from 1994–1999. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. The South African courts convicted him on charges of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed while he led the movement against apartheid. In accordance with his conviction, Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela has supported reconciliation and negotiation, and has helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, many have frequently praised Mandela, including former opponents. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He is currently a celebrated elder statesman who continues to voice his opinion on topical issues. In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela's clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela. In 1994, with the unexpected death of John Smith, Blair became Labour Party leader after Gordon Brown stood aside to avoid splitting the pro-modernising vote in the leadership ballot. Blair quickly attained unquestioned authority as leader, which was further underlined by Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election. At 43, he was the youngest premier since Lord Liverpool in 1812. He attempted to promote a youthful, modern image of Britain symbolised by Brit-pop, Brit-art and the Millennium Dome. Some of his policies were genuinely radical, especially the constitutional reforms that delivered a measure of self-government to Wales and Scotland. However, a promise to reform public services proved less easy to implement, and a controversial reliance on private enterprise initiatives did not seem to deliver the expected improvements in transport, education or health care. On 31 August 1997, Diana died after a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris along with Dodi Al-Fayed and the acting security manager of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Henri Paul, who was instructed to drive the hired Mercedes-Benz through Paris in order to elude the paparazzi. Their black 1994 Mercedes-Benz S280 crashed into the thirteenth pillar of the tunnel. The two-lane tunnel was built without metal barriers in front of the pillars. None of the four occupants wore seat belts. The journalists, who had been trailing the car, arrived at the Alma underpass at different stages. Serge Arnal, Christian Martinez and Stéphane Darmon appear to have arrived first, quickly followed by Serge Benhamou. Records supplied by mobile telephone operators Itinéris and SFR support Serge Arnal's claim that he attempted to call the emergency services. Film seized from the cameras of Christian Martinez and Serge Arnal showed that they were taking photographs of the car and/or the occupants almost immediately after arrival at the scene – there were no emergency services near the car visible in their photographs. Blood analysis showed that Henri Paul was illegally intoxicated with alcohol while driving. He drove at high speed in order to evade the pursuing journalists. Tests showed he had consumed amounts of alcohol three times that of the French legal limit. Fayed's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, who was in the passenger seat, was closest to the point of impact and yet he was the only survivor of the crash. Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed were killed instantly, and Diana—unbelted in the back seat- slid forward during the impact and, having been violently thrown around the interior, "submarined" under the seat in front of her, suffering serious damage to her heart with subsequent internal bleeding. She was eventually, after considerable time, transported by ambulance to the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, suffering two episodes of cardiac arrest on the way. Despite lengthy resuscitation attempts, including internal cardiac massage, she died at 4 a.m. local time. Her funeral on 6 September 1997 was broadcast and watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide. An iconic presence on the world stage, Diana was noted for her sense of compassion, style, charisma, and high-profile charity work, as well as her difficult marriage to Prince Charles. From the time of her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death after a car accident in 1997, Diana was one of the most famous women in the world—a pre-eminent celebrity of her generation. During her lifetime, she was often described as the world's most photographed woman. One biographer suggested that Diana was possibly suffering from Borderline personality disorder. Diana admitted to struggling with depression, and the eating disorder bulimia, which recurred throughout her adult life. Royal biographer Sarah Bradford commented, "The only cure for her (Diana's) suffering would have been the love of the Prince of Wales which she so passionately desired, something which would always be denied her. His was the final rejection; the way in which he consistently denigrated her reduced her to despair." Diana herself commented, "My husband made me feel inadequate in every possible way that each time I came up for air he pushed me down again ... John Joseph Gotti, Jr. (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002), commonly known by the media as "The Dapper Don" and "The Teflon Don" after the murder of his former boss Paul Castellano, was the boss of the well known Gambino crime family, one of the Five Families in New York City. He became widely known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style that eventually caused his downfall. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of racketeering, 13 murders, obstruction of justice, hijacking, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, loan sharking and other crimes and was sentenced to life in prison where he died 10 years later. Gotti died of throat cancer at 12:45 p.m. on June 10, 2002 at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, where he had been transferred once the cancer was diagnosed. Gotti had the lower half of his jaw removed due to the cancer and was fed through a tube. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced that Gotti's family would not be permitted to have a Mass of Christian Burial but allowed Gotti's family to have a Requiem after burial. 1994: The O. J. Simpson murder case has been described as the most publicized criminal trial in history, in which O. J. Simpson, former American football star and actor, was brought to trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 after a lengthy trial, the longest jury trial in California history. Simpson hired a high-profile defense team led by Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey. Los Angeles County believed it had a solid prosecution case, but Cochran created in the minds of the jury the belief that there was reasonable doubt about the DNA evidence (then a relatively new type of evidence in trials), including that the blood-sample evidence had allegedly been mishandled by lab scientists and technicians. Cochran and the defense team also alleged other misconduct by the Los Angeles Police Department. The televising of the lengthy trial riveted national attention on the dramatic case. By the end of the criminal trial, national surveys showed dramatic differences between most blacks and most whites in terms of their assessment of Simpson's guilt. Later, both the Brown and Goldman families sued Simpson for damages in a civil trial, which has a lower standard of proof for determining responsibility. On February 5, 1997, the jury unanimously found there was a preponderance of evidence to find Simpson liable for damages in the wrongful death of Goldman and battery of Brown. In its conclusions, the jury effectively found Simpson liable for the death of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman. On February 21, 2008, a Los Angeles court upheld a renewal of the civil judgment against him. Dolly the sheep was the very first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, and came into the world on the 5th of July 1996. The scientific brains who made her were Keith Campbell, Ian Wilmut and colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. When her birth was announced seven months later the world was stunned. Her premature death in 2003 created just as many headlines. Dolly attracted millions of column inches throughout her life and led to long running debates about the ethics of cloning, which became louder with news of her death. Sheep can live to twice her age and she suffered from a type of lung disease usually seen in much older animals. To some critics this was all too predictable as cloning is a relatively new and difficult technology to get right. In fact Dolly was the end result of more than 250 attempts at cloning a sheep.  Dolly's birth stunned the scientific community for two main reasons. The first was that she existeda at all. The creation of a viable clone of a complex mammal was unexpected. To create Dolly, scientists took an adult mammary cell from the udder of another sheep (she was called Dolly after the singer Dolly Parton, something to do with mammary cells!) They stripped away all the cellular machinery to leave the nucleus containing DNA and all the genetic material needed to create life. Then they introduced this into an oocyte (an unfertilised egg) that had had its nucleus removed. The process is known as somatic cell transfer and fertilisation was kick-started with a jolt of electricity. When the hybrid cell began to divide and develop into a blastocyst it was implanted into a surrogate mother. The second incredible fact about the technology was that it showed that an adult differentiated cell, that is a mature cell that has reached the end of its developmental stages, could in effect be wiped back to its original state. So the mammary cell reverted back to its embryonic stage. The fascinating part about this is that a blank cell has the potential to grow into any other cell and could therefore be used to mend ageing tissues and organs. For most of her life Dolly had excellent health and became a mum in her own right , when she was bred with a Welsh Mountain Ram. The first lamb, called Bonny, was born in 1998. A year later she gave birth to a set of twins and then another year later she had triplets. Soviet leaders agree to surrender the Communist Party's 72-year monopoly on power. The party's governing Central Committee ends a stormy 3-day meeting with a strong endorsement of President Gorbachev's proposal for political pluralism. Gorbachev critic Boris Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian Republic in May; he quits the party in July, followed by the mayors of Moscow and Leningrad. Gorbachev asks for special powers November 17 as the Soviet economy collapses, he is granted the powers despite fears of a new dictatorship, the liberal minister of the interior is succeeded by a KGB officer, and Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze announces his resignation December 20, warning the Congress of the People's Deputies against "reactionaries." The Parliament shrugs off Shevardnadze's warning and votes December 25 to give Gorbachev almost dictatorial powers, including powers over the 15 republics.

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